If you're going to get eaten by a bear- eat a cinnamon roll first.

Annabelle has been telling us for a while now, " I want to go stay with Papa & Mimi without you". Last weekend we dropped her off in Port Orchard with Brandon's parents and sought out a childfree adventure.  We had a short list, but all of our mountaineering ideas required carrying heavy packs over a long distance,  so we ranked them in order of hikes with bakeries along the way. Most  were disqualified, so we decided to hike the relatively long and easy trail into the remote mountain town of Stehekin (yet again). 

As we took off towards the trailhead our plan seemed to be falling apart faster than a gluten free tortilla. A wildfire closed the road to our trailhead late the night before, no campsites were available, and  rain was in the forecast. Since it doesn't rain in August we had left the rainfly at home... to save weight.  It would be a 41 mile hike composed of : 8.5, 18 and 14.5 mile days. Upon hearing all this news we both took note of our current persons- meh maybe we can still do that. For cinnamon rolls. Maybe. Maybe. 

Feeling pretty good day one we made it to our camp, hungry as a bear for dinner. The bugs were pretty hungry too so we headed towards a noisy creek with more wind and less bugs to make dinner. Our mouths were watering as the smell of bourbon brined sausages and a rutabaga cooked in the alpine permeated throughout the air.

We were distracted and in a deep conversation about the subtle differences between jock-itch and chafage when my sixth sense kicked in and I sensed a presence behind me.  Since I normally don't see dead people I thought it was the other group of campers coming down to join us.  I turned around only to discover a bear, only 8 Lisa steps away from our dinner! For those of you who don't know me- I'm a tall personality trapped in an average lady's body who takes short steps and sometimes suffers from chafage. Holy smokes batman, its a real live BEAR, walking towards us and our dinner. I'm not sure what occurred first- did I scream like a tall personality trying to escape an average sized body... or- did I defecate my pants.  Perhaps those two events happened simultaneously.

Brandon looked at me thinking I was bat shit crazy, then he widened his gaze, he noticed the bear and joined in my hysterics by knocking rocks together like a caveman would before mating season. They say bears are "opportunistic", and this bear was quickly convinced this is not the opportunity he originally smelled down by the river.  So he sauntered away, and may I add it was a very leisurely saunter. The other campers took note of our antics and we all decided to circle the wagons around a few cans of bear-spray while we took turns making dinner and trading watch.

The rest of the hike was uneventful. That's not really true, the bakery produced a cinnamon roll experience. Not just a cinnamon roll, but the whole experience, I was left unsupervised to order while Brandon went to the bathroom. while he was gone for less than one minute, I ordered a cinnamon roll, a Danish, a cinnamon roll, a BBQ chicken panini, a cinnamon roll, and a slice of Hawaiian pizza. It was glorious.

If I shall get eaten by a bear, I will be eaten full of pastries - thank you very much.